Lions fall to Lynx

(Above) Clear Lake’s Emilie Jandebeuer (3) and Jessica Faber go up for a block in recent volleyball action.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

Clear Lake (7-13, 1-5) pushed Webster City (14-9, 4-2) to five games, but the Lynx came away with a 3-2 North Central Conference victory Thursday night, Oct. 6.  After a close game one, the Lions captured the second and third games, but couldn’t put the visitors away.  Games scores were 25-22, 14-25, 21-25, 25-10, 15-9.

“I was really proud of how the team battled. I thought we made good defensive adjustments and played aggressively offensively,” said Head Coach Jill Smith.  “Webster City came out strong offensively in sets four and five, and we struggled to get into our offense when we really needed to.”

Emily Snelling had a huge game, putting down 24 kills in the match.  The senior also made 18 digs and was 19/22 serving with two aces.

Jessica Faber recorded six kills in the match, Maddie Davis had five and Kiersten Baalson was successful on four attempts.  Faber and Chloe Mueller each finished with 14 dogs.

The Lions had one of their best efforts of the season at the service line.  They put over 93 percent of their serves in play, led by Faber, who was 18/19 with four aces.  Carson Frahm was 16/18 with three aces.  Chloe Mueller, Macy Mixdorf, Julia Merfeld and Jenna Wilkinson were all perfect at the line, going  10/10, 9/, 8/8 and 5/5.

Mason City Tournament

The Lions spent Saturday honing their skills against a field of rated, North Iowa volleyball powers.  Clear Lake went 0-4 at the Mohawk Volleyball Invitational at Mason City, but had some good teamwork against quality opponents.

The Lions were most competitive against Fort Dodge, but ultimately dropped a 1-2 decision by scores of 25-23, 15-21, 15-12.  Emily Snelling led the team with eight kills.  Carson Frahm set up the offense with 10 assist.  Chloe Mueller had a team-high nine digs.  Macy Mixdorf helped out at the service line, going 12/12 with two aces.

Waverly-Shell Rock showed why they are ranked 14th in Class 4A.  The Go-Hawks dominated, 21-15, 21-9.  The Lions had a hard time getting on the offensive.  Snelling put down seven of the Lions’ 11 kills in the match.  The senior also had a team-high eight digs.  Clear Lake struggled on serve, putting in just 19 of 25 attempts (76 percent).  Jessica Faber was 5/6 and Snelling was 4/5 to lead the team.

St. Ansgar and the Lions played a close match, but the Saints got the victory, 21-18, 21-23, 15-9. Snelling again was the team leader with nine kills and 13/13 serving with three aces.  Snelling and Chloe Mueller each had eight digs.  Four players were perfect from the service line, helping the team to 96 percent efficiency.  In addition to Snelling, Jessica Faber, Carson Frahm and Mueller were all successful on 100 percent of their serves.

Clear Lake’s fourth match at the tournament was against eighth ranked (3A) Humboldt.  The Wildcats swept the Lions, 21-13, 21-12.  Snelling put down seven kills and had seven digs.  Chloe Mueller also had seven digs and was one of five players who didn’t miss a serve in the match.  Carson led the way, going 7/7.  Snelling was 6/6, while Julia Merfeld and Macy Mixdorf were each 3/3.  Mueller went 2/2 serving.

The Lions (7-17, 1-5) finish out North Central Conference play this week on the road at Iowa Falls-Alden (14-9, 5-1) and Algona (16-16, 3-3), then spend Saturday, Oct. 15, in another tough tournament at Algona.  The Lions begin tournament play Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Osage.